The Pickleweed Park Community Center sits in the heart of San Rafael’s diverse and densely-populated Canal neighborhood. The neighborhood’s only recreation and green space was provided in a 1980s-era facility that was not only too small to meet the community’s needs, but also prematurely deteriorating due to shortcuts taken during its original construction.

Group 4 worked with the City of San Rafael as well as the Pickleweed Advisory Board, which consisted of Canal district residents and businesspeople, to facilitate a series of public meetings and a written survey to determine the community’s needs. We developed a conceptual design for an expanded facility with a multi-use gymnasium, an arts and crafts room, an expanded library, a teen center, and a computer lab.

We helped the City prepare a successful application to the California State Library for construction grant funds, and also provided support for the City’s private fundraising efforts. Since reopening, the center has enjoyed a dramatic increase in use and enthusiastic appreciation from the Canal neighborhood.